Meaning of Life
by Hope Meijer
Summary: It's fortytwo. Everyone knows that. Set a few days after 'Father's Day'. Thoughts on 'that philosophical stuff humans are obsessed with'. 9thDoctorxRose friendship


Author's Note: I wasn't happy with how the other one turned out, so I thought I'd have another go. I'm using the whole 'meaning of life' bit from 'Safe'.

For all those who reviewed Safe: Anni and I were merely observing that the relationship would probably be like Sam and Jack...not the whole 8-year shipper-torture!

MY DAD MET A DALEK YESTERDAY! (Me very annoyed) He went to a model exhibition in Mersham and there was a Dalek there. It was scaring the hell out of little kids, and it asked one girl if she was scared of it, and when she said yes, it told her to shake it's plunger! And my dad told it off, because it was saying 'Terminate', not 'Exterminate'. Go dad!

This was written whilst listening to the Beiderbecke Affair/Tapes/Connection soundtrack, so it might be a bit odd!

* * *

MEANING OF LIFE

* * *

"What's the meaning of life?" 

The Doctor looked up from underneath the console and banged his head, wincing as he did so.

"It's forty-two. Everyone knows that." He crawled out and stood up, dusting his jacket down, and anything else that had come into contact with the grimy floor that he had almost, but never actually, got round to cleaning.

Rose ran a hand through her hair, hiding a smirk when she noticed most of his backside was still light brown against the dark blue of his jeans. "No, really."

He narrowed his eyes. "You're asking me to get into all that philosophical stuff humans are so obsessed with?"

She shrugged. "You obviously know something about that, because you've either read or heard of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy..." It was something one of her friends had obsessed over when they'd been at school, so she knew practically every major quote and a few minor ones.

"Read. A couple of times actually. I think I have a copy in the library."

"You have a library?"

He waggled his eyebrows. "I have a lot of things in the TARDIS that you don't know about."

"Like what, then?"

"If I told you then there wouldn't be a surprise any more. I like having some secrets."

She snorted. "Man of mystery, right?"

"Something like that." He looked around for the sonic screwdriver, grabbed it and started back under the console again. "If that's all..."

Rose grasped his arm before he could get on the floor again. "Oh no, you're not avoiding my question." She tugged on his arm, feeling the supple leather pulling under her grip, and he stood upright to face her, seeing the need for some sort of closure; of explanation for her father's death.

"It couldn't be avoided, y'know." He set the sonic screwdriver down again and leant against a pillar next to her, his arms folded over his chest.

She nodded lightly, having realised that, among other things, when she had watched the Doctor being devoured by the reaper. "I know," she replied quietly, fiddling with the toggles on her jacket. She could feel his scrutinising eyes on her, and adamantly refused to meet his gaze.

He sighed and scrubbed at his face with one hand, suddenly stopping and pulling his hand away so he could look at it, realising it had muck all over it, half of which had just been transferred to his face. He started scrubbing at his face again, this time with a murky-looking cloth he'd found lying around.

"It's not that simple," he stated. Scrub, scrub. Rose still hadn't looked at him yet, otherwise he knew she would be laughing at him. "If we all knew the meaning of life, or the purpose of the universe, then we probably wouldn't need the TARDIS to rectify mistakes, for example. Or the universe would disappear and something even more bizarre and inexplicable would take its place," he added as an afterthought.

"But why do people just die...when they have so much to live for...?"

He shrugged, knowing that she'd be able to feel it. "You wanna know what I think?" When she didn't reply, he took it as an affirmative. "I think we're all here to learn. We're all here to take part in the mysterious machine called life. And every decision, every minor action from every individual, no matter how 'unimportant' they are, can have catastrophic consequences for others."

"Like what?"

"Say your dad had chosen to take a different way. He could have been a few seconds early or late, and have missed the car. The car could have then gone on to hit someone else. The grief your mother experienced would have been spared her, but someone else would have had to face life without his or her loved ones. They could have been a weak character, and committed suicide. Every single action has consequences that lead to a series of escalating events. If people thought to trace the steps back, they would find that everything is interconnected. When you think that no one will notice if you die or leave, believe me they will, just not in the way you'd think."

Rose just nodded, absorbing what he was telling her.

He went back to scrubbing his face.

"That's why we have to be careful in what we do. Especially you and me...travelling time can have massive consequences." He didn't need to elaborate for Rose to know exactly what he was referring to.

"But we're also here to experience. Feel love, hate, and live life whilst we can. It's all part of it."

"Do you believe in fate?" Rose questioned.

"Not particularly."

Of course, he knew that in hindsight fate played a big part, but not in advance. It was people's actions and decisions that directed their lives, but if something happened to them (such as Rose's father) then it could not be changed. If it was...then the reapers came in to clear up the mess.

Rose shifted by side, and he paused, hand mid-air, to glance at her. She was staring into space, her face pensive.

Scrub, scrub.

Ah, he was done.

"That answer your question?"

She looked up at him finally, and tilted her head. "Not really. I need something more solid, like forty-two. But it helped. Thanks."

He shrugged. "Just remember I'm no good at the philosophy crap."

She nodded. "I know."

He looked petulantly at her for a moment, debating what to reply with, but she tapped him on the nose briefly.

"You have dirt on your nose." With that, she turned and walked out, intent on wandering the corridors of the TARDIS and exploring.

The Doctor growled quietly and went back to scrubbing his face.

* * *

Author's Note: Yay for weirdness. But hey, it's better than my last one, ne? I've got a Philosophy exam in a few weeks, so I'm into all of that 'meaning of life stuff'. 

Catch the other Hitchhiker's reference/quote that's NOT forty-two?

For those wondering, The Beiderbecke Affair/Tapes/Connection is a lovely English comedy/drama set in 1980s Yorkshire. Absolutely wonderful, and a definite recommendation for those who like gentle humour similar to Last Of The Summer Wine, Open All Hours, Porridge, Are You Being Served and the like. I love the jazz soundtrack, inspired by (of course) Bix Beiderbecke!


End file.
